Survival
by Spottedeyes
Summary: Chase Winter lives in the thriving village of Pallet, living off the fat of the land. Her village's only enemy is the Kingdom of Kanto, the most powerful force her people know of. They've been life-long enemies. But when Chase gets hurt and her village's medicine won't help, she realizes her only chance might be to seek help from Pallet's life-long enemy.
1. Chapter 1

Survival

Chapter 1:

Summer had been bliss. She had killed her first Tauros and nearly mastered the art of tracking and archery. The Kanto Kingdom had left the small village alone, and a few other rivaling villages migrated away from her own.

Now autumn was coming. Winter wasn't far. The village was now frantic, hunting twice as often. Anyone who could land a big Pokémon like Tauros or even just round up a few Miltank was given a lot of praise, for Tauros meat could be sundried and turned into jerky and the Miltank could provide milk for many years.

The summer delicacies like Bulbasaur bulbs and Tropius fruits were slowly growing more scarce, and by autumn they'd be gone, well at least all the healthy ones. The apricorns used for pokeballs were starting to get bruised and squishy faster than they did near the start of summer.

She spent most of her time either hunting or hollowing out apricorns just outside of camp. Her father told her if she could kill a Tauros she'd get her first Pokémon to help with hunting. Now that she did, it was merely a waiting game until a group of feral Growlithe or a herd of Ponyta were caught and brought back to the camp. She would always sit atop a boulder in between her village and the Viridian forest, gutting apricorns or scraping fat off hides as she watched for any hunters. Today was no different.

"Chase! Hey, Chase, give me a hand, will you?" Reece, one of Chase's friends yelled.

Chase looked up from her apricorn that she was hollowing out -a green one for a friend ball- to see her friend pulling at a rope. She knew he must've trapped something. Abandoning her apricorn, she ran to help Reece.

"What'd you catch!?" She asked, skidding to a stop beside Reece.

"Bulbasaur, a whole bunch too." He panted, gesturing to about five of the grass type.

Each Bulbasaur had their stumpy feet tied together, the ropes that bounded their feet tied to a thicker, longer rope that Reece was gripping. Her mouth began to water at the sight of the bulbs.

"Here, let me help."

"That's why I called you." Reece muttered, working his hands further up the rope, closer to the Bulbasaur so Chase could grab the end of the rope.

"Um, how about I just go back in and get a pole? They won't be able to struggle nearly as much if they're upside-down." She suggested.

"Fine. Be quick though." He said, digging his heels into the ground as the grass types rolled in the opposite direction.

Chase nodded and ran back into the village.

XXX

"Aaaannnnd, we're good." Reece grinned, tying the final Bulbasaur to the wood pole.

"Cool. Let's get the haul back now." Chase said, grabbing end of one pole.

Reece grabbed the other one. The grass types cried out in a further panic, a few trying to use vine whip, but all missed Reece and Chase by a long shot. A couple others began spraying spores from their bulbs.

"Shit! Stun spore! Drop it, drop it!" Chase yelled, letting go of the pole and backing out of the range of the attacks.

Reece did the same, smirking as the other Bulbasaur paralyzed each other. The fall also weakened them further.

"Is the pole safe to touch?" She asked.

Reece shrugged, "only one way to find out."

He picked the pole up again, gasping and letting go almost immidately.

"Nope." The seventeen-year old auburn-haired boy winced, shaking out his hand.

"Should we just tie the rope to the pole and drag it back? The village isn't too far away you know."

"Or, we could just cut the bulbs off here."

Chase shrugged, "alright. I have my apricorn carver right here."

She pulled the sharp rock from her pocket. Reece did the same. The Bulbasaur really started squirming now, knowing their fate. Chase cut one Bulbasaur off the pole, its feet still tied so it couldn't get away.

"Catch." Reece called, tossing a small stone that Chase quickly identified to be an Oval Stone.

"Plug it, then it can't poison or paralyze or put you to sleep."

Chase rolled her eyes, "I already know, stupid."

Rolling the Bulbasaur so its bulb faced her, Chase shoved the stone inside the bulb's hole, causing Bulbasaur to cry in pain. Her stomach started to knot.

_No. People have been doing this forever. Ignore it, just cut the bulb and it won't scream anymore. _She told herself, placing the sharp rock against the base of the bulb.

The bulb was the Pokémon's life line, if it was cut, it died fairly quickly afterwards.

"Jeez, Chase, what's taking you so long? I've already done two and you haven't even finished your first?"

"I'm almost done…" She mumbled.

"Look, if you're not man enough to do it then just leave it by the other one." He said, cutting another bulb off.

Chase winced at the sound and looked back at the Bulbasaur. "No, no. I've got it."

Reece grabbed the last Bulbasaur off the pole and quickly slit the bulb off its back.

"Here, I finished my last one. I'll do that one." He said, inching towards the Bulbasaur.

Without thinking, Chase quickly cut the ropes binding Bulbasaur's legs and put her hands on the bulb. She knew the stone had to be removed, but there was no time. Chase slapped Bulbasaur's bulb. His eyes shot open and he ran away from her and Reece into the Viridian forest.

"Arceus damn it!" Reece yelled, getting to his feet and running after the grass type.

Chase knew it was a waste of time though. That Bulbasaur was way faster than Reece.

"Reece, just let it go! You won't catch it!" Chase hollered, cutting her leg with her sharp rock.

She winced, but she had to come up with an excuse as to why Bulbasaur got away.

Reece came back, an angry look sprawled across his face. "That could've fed three people and the skin could've kindled at least three fires."

"Sorry… that one knew razor leaf. It cut itself free and cut me open. I just wasn't prepared…"

"Razor leaf? I didn't see it attack." He said, watching blood trickle down her leg. "I know you're hurt and all, but I need some help getting all this back in the village."

Chase nodded, taking two bulbs in her arms. Reece took the other two, casting a look at the carcasses of the bulb-less Bulbasaur.

"We can come back for those later." Chase said.

Reece shook his head, "the Spearow and Pidgey will be all over that. Stay with the carcasses. I'll be right back."

Chase nodded, watching as her friend ran back to the village. She sat down, placing the bulbs on her legs. _I don't get it. I've cut bulbs before, why couldn't I do it that time? I've killed a Tauros, and I can't kill a Bulbasaur? What's wrong with me? _

"Saur?"

Chase snapped her head towards the forest. The Bulbasaur was watching her curiously and warily from behind a tree. She set the two bulbs on the ground and got to her feet. Bulbasaur growled and fled into the forest. Chase sighed and picked the bulbs up again.

"Alright, I don't blame you for running." She looked expectantly into the forest, hoping to see the grass type again.

He didn't come back.

"You know, if you come back I'll take that rock out of your bulb."

Still nothing.

The sound of footsteps filled her ears.

"Thanks, Chase." Reece panted, picking up the carcasses, two in each arm.

"No problem. Should we leave the pole?"

"Unless you want to get paralyzed, then yeah."

Chase rolled her eyes. "Let's just get back."

XXX

Chase sat on the ground, Reece to her right and an empty spot to her left. She looked longingly at the spot.

"You miss Azure?" Reece asked.

Chase meekly nodded, remembering her childhood friend. She had recently passed away when a Tauros horn stab-wound got infected. It had been a long, painful death for the raven-haired girl. Now Reece was the last person that was around her age in the Village of Pallet. Reece nudged her with his elbow.

"Hm?"

"Your Medapod are getting burnt." He said, staring Chase's skewer stick.

Chase blinked and pulled the three small Medapod out of the flames, blowing on them to cool her dinner off.

"Thanks." She muttered.

Reece nodded in acknowledgement. "How's your leg?"

"Fine."

Chase took a small bite from a Medapod, chewing it slowly.

Reece rose an eyebrow, "what are you doing?"

Chase swallowed. "Eating."

"No duh, but why so slowly? It's a little late to suddenly eat all ladylike and shit."

Chase snickered, "right. I'm totally trying to be ladylike. You should know by now that the only time you hear the words 'Chase' and 'ladylike' in the same sentence is if the word 'isn't' is in between them."

"Alright, smart ass." Reece said, punching her lightly in the arm before retracting his own skewer from the fire.

A roar sounded in distance. The fire seemed to perk up.

"I think you dad's back." Reece commented as he took a bite from his Medapod.

Chase looked to the night sky to see her father riding his Charizard towards the village. A carcass dangled from the flying/fire type's claws.

"Looks like he caught something too." She mused as Charizard quickly landed near the camp fire.

Her father swept some of his dark brown hair away from his face and patted Charizard.

"Chief, you're back." One of the elders smiled.

He nodded, pulling a nest ball from his Tauros-leather pants and returning Charizard. Her father had that Charizard since it was a Charmander, it was his first Pokémon. It also fueled his love for fire types. He had Charizard of course, along with Arcanine, Rapidash, Ninetails, and his Flareon.

Flareon had always fascinated Chase.

When she asked about Flareon, her father would say that at one point the Kanto Kingdom and the Pallet settlement had been allies and traded with each other often. Pallet would get luxuries such as ivory buttons, silk blankets and clothing, jewel-studded rings and necklaces, and rare Pokémon like Lapras and Eevee. Her father had traded a few pounds of Tauros jerky for an Eevee; the trader was generous enough to give him a free evolutionary stone to go with his new Pokémon as well. He obviously took a fire stone with the Eevee and evolved it rather quickly so it could learn fire type moves early on. Chase couldn't imagine ever trading or even socializing with the snobs from that place. They called her people barbarians who didn't know how to live.

She took another bite of Medapod, her apatite growing as the unique taste saturated her taste-buds. People started congratulating her father on his catch. It was about the biggest Tauros any one had ever brought in all summer. He put his foot proudly on the beast's shoulder and bathed in the warm praises of his people.

Chase rolled her eyes. _I hope I'm not that modest. _

She took another bite. A small piece of charred Medapod shell fell on her button-down leather vest. Chase shrugged and flicked it off into the fire, watching as the piece shriveled into ash.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"Ready?" Reece whispered.

Chase nodded, pulling the arrow further back and aiming at the sky. Reece tossed a rock into the tall grass. It was the middle of autumn now. Food was already very scarce, people were already resorting to the Tauros jerky. The stone hit the grass. She grinned when she heard the flapping of wings. A flock of Pidgey flew into the air. Chase launched an arrow into the air, quickly reloading the bow and firing again, and again, and again. Two of the bird Pokémon fell out of the sky, hitting the ground with a soft thud.

"Nice. Should we go for another field now?" Reece asked, sending his Growlithe to fetch the Pidgey.

Chase lowered her bow. "Nah, we should probably get back to the village. My dad had some sort of announcement to make." She said, patting Growlithe on his head and taking the two Pidgey.

Reece sighed, "but we already know what he's going to say. Why go?"

Chase rolled her eyes. "Just go you big baby."

Reece returned Growlithe and started walking back towards the village. Chase followed.

XXX

Chase's father stood in front of the small village, his Charizard standing behind him. Chase and Reece stayed in the back of the crowd, ready to leave if he chose to ramble and prattle.

"The time has come once again for us to travel to our winter grounds. Elder Wilma has predicted that the snow will come early this year, so we will retreat to the Indigo Mountains early. We leave tomorrow at sunup."

Angry gasps and protests filled the air.

"I know it's sudden, but the mountains get treacherous. It's probably already snowed up there by now. We don't have much time. Start collapsing the huts and load the Rapidash up." He commanded.

With a few angry mutters, the crowd dispersed. Reece and Chase exchanged annoyed glances.

"Well, I'm going to destroy my house, see you later." He said, walking towards his family's hut.

Chase sighed and did the same.

XXX

THUD! Another log slammed into the ground, nearly falling on Chase's feet.

"Watch out, Chase. I don't want another repeat of Azure." Her father warned, grunting with effort as he toppled another log that made up their home.

Chase winced at Azure's name. "R-right."

"You know what, Chase? I think I can handle the rest, can you go help pack the food instead?"

A lump formed in Chase's throat. She knew her father just wanted her out of the way. She didn't blame him though; she was his only child and if she died, he'd be alone since her mother succumbed to pneumonia when she was four.

Chase sighed. "If you don't want me around, then just say so." She grumbled, trotting away before he could respond.

_If he doesn't want my help, then I'm sure no one else will either. _Chase thought grudgingly, walking out of the village to sit on her boulder.

She wouldn't be seeing it for a while after the Pallet clan moved. The Indigo Mountains weren't too far from their regular home, but getting to their winter retreat was what was dangerous and took time. Of course, it was better than staying behind. It snowed heavily at their summer home, and the buildings couldn't support the amount of snow that quickly piled atop the roofs. And if all the houses collapsed, there wouldn't be anywhere for the villagers to go. The Indigo Mountains would be too snowed in to go in or out of, the forest would do more harm than good, and they had no allies. The Pallet village would never plea to another group for help, so basically, if they didn't move, there would no longer be a Pallet village. The forest eventually came into sight, along with her boulder.

_I'm really going to miss this place. _She thought, nearing her boulder.

"Bulb!"

Her eyes widened; she began looking wildly around. "Bulbasaur? Is that you?" She asked.

Her gaze fell at the base of the boulder. There was the Bulbasaur that she'd spared. The Bulbasaur that she cut herself for. The Bulbasaur she'd lied for. He was just sitting at the base of the rock, almost like he was waiting for her. The oval stone was still lodged in the bulb, and on closer inspection she saw that his bulb was wilted. She winced, knowing she did this.

_Time to fix it. _

"Hey, buddy. Stay right there, okay? I'm going to take that rock out of you." Chase said calmly, taking slow, careful steps towards Bulbasaur.

Bulbasaur tensed a little, ready to run as Chase neared him. She kneeled down beside him and placed both hands on the stone.

"Here we go." Chase started pulling.

The stone came out with a loud popping noise. A cloud of multi-colored spores flew out of the bulb. Her eyes widened, rolling away from the grass type.

"What was that for? I just saved your ass twice!" She snapped, quickly getting to her feet and brushing the dirt off her legs.

Bulbasaur shrunk back at her tone. Chase rolled her green eyes.

"I believe you are in debt of me now. Especially now that you've assaulted me!" She glared, pulling a friend ball that she'd made earlier in the year from her pocket and presented it to Bulbasaur.

"Get in."

"Bulb?" Bulbasaur asked, his eyes wide.

Gritting her teeth, Chase quickly lost patience and threw the ball at the Pokémon, watching with satisfaction as the ball rocked back and forth, clicking after the second rock. Chase's eyes widened when she realized that she'd just caught a walking salad, for her first Pokémon too. Something had to be wrong with her. She plucked the green ball off the ground and stared at it.

_I wonder if you can evolve too. No one ever thought dad's Charmander would evolve, but now look at him. Perhaps those Squirtle we make soup out of can evolve too. No one's ever given you a second thought. I'm gonna be the first._

**Shorter chapter, but I think that's a good place to end it. **


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Her anger towards her father forgotten and replaced with a sense of power, Chase started walking back to Pallet. She had decided not to tell anyone about Bulbasaur.

Chase was already a lesser in the village due to her gender, if anyone found out she had a Pokémon usually eaten rather than trained, her status would drop even lower. Unlike her father and Reece, Chase would never own any property; if she married, then she would _become _someone else's property. She was lucky that her father even allowed her to hunt; to go by Chase rather than her real name; and to wander about without a male escort. It was a miracle. She was grateful to her father and the rest of the village for treating her the way they did. Others weren't nearly as lucky.

Chase held Bulbasaur's poke ball tightly. It was the only thing that was truly _hers. _She would always cherish it.

A cold breeze tickled her skin, ducklett-bumps racing swiftly up her arms and legs. Chase felt a little stupid for not yet changing into her winter attire, for the button-down leather vest and leather shorts wouldn't protect her from the budding cold. Nor would her uncovered feet. Another gust of wind blew her dirty-blond hair in her face. She swept the stray strands out of her face and quickened her pace, scanning the grassland for other Pokémon. Even if they were game Pokémon like Pidgey and Spearow Chase still wanted them. She was on a trainers' high so to speak; she wanted another capture so she'd have something to do when Pallet reached the Indigo Mountains.

Once the village would arrive, all you could really do is gnaw on jerky and try not to freeze to death. The caves where her village would resign to weren't exactly action packed, at least not like the Viridian Forest were a swarm of angry Beedrill or skittish Butterfree would barrel out of the foliage. People who entered the forest sometimes even accidently brought pests like Pikachu and Rattata back to Pallet. She personally thought they were a little cute, but she was here to survive. She had no time for pets.

_But what does that make Bulbasaur? _Chase shook her head.

Deep down she knew she'd make something good out of him. Her thoughts suddenly ran ramped with the thoughts of the grass type. Unable to hold back any longer, Chase released Bulbasaur.

"Saur!" Bulbasaur cried, staring warily at Chase.

"Look. I'm sorry, Bulbasaur for scaring you back there. I was just in a sour mood already and getting blasted with spores wasn't really what I wanted to do."

Bulbasaur hesitantly nodded, straightening his stumpy legs so he'd stand tall. Chase put her hands on her hips.

"You think you look more intimidating like that? Well you don't."

Bulbasaur growled at her, his timid nature diminishing. The dirty-blond leered at the grass type, towering over him. Much to her surprise, he _growled. _

"I am your master. I _own _you," she said, empathizing the word 'own'.

"Bulb…" Bulbasaur glared, two vines sliding out from either side of the bulb on his back.

Chase's temper flared. "I can end you right here right now. All I have to do is step on your bulb and it's game over, buddy." She threatened, staring as the wilted, mushy-looking plant.

Bulbasaur took a step back at her words.

"You bolt, I'll just return you."

Bulbasaur stared defiantly at her, slapping the ground with vine whip, barely missing her feet. Chase almost flinched at the loud snapping sound, but she stayed strong. She wouldn't let a _plant _of all things control her. Chase stamped her foot in response.

"So this is how you roll. You play this timid, helpless act to survive," she accused, glaring at her unruly Pokémon.

"Then once you get a sense of safety, a taste of weakness from your oppressor, hell you'd lash out at anyone! You don't need any weakness, you'd just attack for the fun of it!" His eyes glinted at her words.

She knew savagery when she saw it. Chase would always see it in the eyes of a Tauros or Nidorino/Nidorina. Never did she think a Bulbasaur of all Pokémon would have that cold expression. Her lips curved into a grin.

"Looks like I got a good one."

Bulbasaur blinked in surprise, lowering his vines. He gave her a questioning look.

_May as well make something positive out of this…_

Chase nodded, "I'm not kidding. You don't have much time for that up here. If you're willing to attack and challenge me, then you're good material."

She kneeled down. "Come here."

His wariness quickly returned. Chase rolled her eyes. "I just want to check the bulb on your back to see if it is close to blooming."

Bulbasaur hesitantly complied, stepping slowly towards her, his eyes wary. She placed her hands on his bulb, getting a growl out of the grass type.

"Oh shut it." She muttered, inspecting the top, then the overall plumpness of the bulb.

Bulbasaur kept looking at Chase.

"Relax, if I was going to make you my lunch don't you think I would've done that already?"

Bulbasaur growled softly in response, staring grudgingly at the ground. After feeling the bulb for a little longer, she gave up.

"Arceus I have no idea how long it'll be before that bulb of yours blooms." She muttered.

"Bulb." Bulbasaur shrugged.

"Chase! Chase, you out here?" A voice Chase quickly recognized to be Reece shouted.

Suppressing a gasp, she swiftly returned Bulbasaur despite his glares and protests. She turned around and saw him running around the blank, desolate plains calling for her.

Chase slid the poke ball into her pocket and yelled, "over here, Reece!"

Reece snapped his head in her direction. Chase broke into a run, not wanting him to have to come even further to fetch her.

Reece took a few paces towards her, "where were you? I finished toppling the house and I went to find you and your father says you ran off because he asked you to do something else."

She narrowed her eyes, "yeah so? And how the hell did you know I'd be over here?"

Reece smirked. "I've known you for a while now."

Chase rolled her eyes.

"Come on, the sun's going to be down by the time we make it back. We'll both need the rest for tomorrow."

Chase sighed and nodded, staring sadly at the ground. She never liked the journey to Indigo. The mountains themselves weren't all that great either.

"Aw, come on don't be such a baby." Reece said in a mocking voice.

Chase punched him in the arm. "Shut up."

Reece just laughed. "Come on, the mountains aren't that bad-"

"Uh they kind of are! All you can do is eat dried up meat and shiver! I'd rather spend a night in the Kanto Kingdom's jail then go up there!"

"You know you don't mean that, those people are terrible. But I will admit, a night alone in the forest does sound better than the mountains."

"So you do hate the mountains?"

"Hell yeah. Like you said, there's nothing to do up there but be miserable. It's better than dying though."

"Is it?"

"Drama queen."

"Let's just go back."

Reece smirked. "Race ya."

Chase grinned. "You're on."

XXX

"Chase. Chase. Chase. Chaaaaaase!"

Chase moaned, turning over. She wasn't ready to wake up.

"Chase! Get your lazy ass in gear! It's time to go!" Reece shouted, kicking her side.

Chase opened one of her green eyes. "I'm not ready yet." She muttered.

Reece frowned. "If you don't get up, I'm going to sic Growlithe on you."

Her eyes shot open. He laughed. The threat of Growlithe always worked, the puppy-Pokémon would climb all over her, licking her face and whining into her ears. One time he'd even started scratching at her face. She sat up, her back cracking. Along with the rest of the village, Chase had spent the night on the ground with nothing but Tauros hide to shield her from the wind. At one point her father's Charizard had lit a small fire to provide warmth, but the wind had promptly blown it out nearly as soon as it was kindled.

"Look." Reece said, staring up at the sky.

Curious, Chase obeyed and looked up. Small white flakes drifted lazily through the sky.

"Damn, that was way faster than usual."

Reece nodded in agreement. "That's why we're leaving like now."

"Meh." She muttered, getting to her feet.

She looked around. Now that the huts were gone, the ground was mostly bare and were dusted with a light layer of frost.

"It's been coming earlier every year." Chase noted, hugging her bare arms.

"That's what Elder Wilma said." Reece shrugged before smirking again at her. "And if you're cold, then you should just go change into the right clothes like everyone else did."

She glared at him. "I hate you."

"Sure you do. You know you love me," Reece said teasingly, throwing in another wink just to torture his friend.

"Why am I friends with you again? Wait no, why am I even your _acquaintance_?" Chase scowled, absent mindedly feeling her pockets to make sure Bulbasaur was still there.

Reece shrugged, "I'm the only other person here that's your age."

"Rhetorical question, stupid." Chase replied smugly.

"Bye, Winter." He said, leaving Chase alone so she could change into her winter clothes.

XXX

Chase wrapped her silver silk cloak tightly around herself, inwardly sighing at the comforting feel. The cloak had once been her mother's. One of the last things she requested to her husband was to give Chase her cloak once she was gone.

Much like how her father had gotten Flareon, her mother had traded with the Kanto Kingdom to get the silk; Chase's late grandmother had helped her sew it into a cloak.

Chase felt a slight pang of sadness at the thought of her mother. Before she first got pneumonia, her mother promised Chase a younger sibling. Even when the pneumonia was getting worse she still insisted that she'd make it.

It was typical. Everyone thought they were invincible, that nothing would ever happen to them. Her mother had this voice telling her that it wouldn't be her. Others had been killed by pneumonia but it wouldn't be her just because it wouldn't. Chase used to think like that too up to the death of her mother; now she was down to earth, knowing very well that every time she left her village she ran the risk of picking a disease up, getting seriously injured and possibly killed, or just getting lost and starving to death.

Just living outside of the Kanto Kingdom was a risk; never quite agreeing with their terms haven't really helped either. Pallet is fiercely independent and prefers to live on its own terms, whilst the Kanto Kingdom liked other settlements to be dependent on them for supplies and protection. And so far Kanto was getting what they wanted. The Viridian, Saffron, Vermilion, Pewter, Lavender, and Fuchsia settlements were in their control; they were basically an empire at this point. Only Cinnabar, Celadon, Cerulean, and Pallet of course had resisted. Cinnabar was only safe because of their island location and all but Pallet had great numbers to hold them off. Chase didn't really know how Pallet had survived this long.

A cold wind blew the bottom of Chase's cloak, exposing the small amount of ankle that the leather leggings failed to cover. She hugged the cloak tighter to herself.

"Cold?" Reece asked, clearly chilled himself.

He didn't wait for her to answer. "Bet you're glad that you aren't wearing your shorts anymore." Reece smirked.

"If I weren't so cold I would punch you."

"Not too ladylike, Chase."

Chase groaned. "At least you're smart enough not to use my real name; that's way too girly for my taste." She gagged at the thought.

"What? Chas-"

"Shut it!" The girl snapped.

"Oh just ask for her hand already." Derek, one of Pallet's villagers grumbled, shoving past the two.

Chase rolled her eyes, trying to hide her embarrassment. Reece just stared at Chase and grinned at her discomfort. It stayed like this until the Indigo mountains came into her sight. For once she was grateful to see the mountains and change gears.

"Look." Chase said, staring at the snow cloaked peaks.

Reece followed her gaze and frowned.

"And we get to somehow move all of our stuff over there. This is going to be fun." Reece grumbled.

She gave a sigh of relief when he started towards the Rapidash. Chase knew that at some point she'd have to lead at least one of the fire horses. It would be her first time.

_I'll just let the more experienced ones start. I'll take one midway or something. _


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

Chase squinted as snow battered her face, her cloak ripping in the wind behind her. She tightened her grip. Her knuckles were bright red and numb.

_Lucky Bulbasaur, I'd kill to get to sit in a poke ball and have someone carry me up these stupid mountains for me. _She thought grudgingly.

The only things she could see in front of her were the manes and tails of the Rapidash and Charizard's tail flame from above. Her father always rode Charizard just in front of the rest of Pallet so everyone knew where to go, barking orders from the sky. It'd been just around four hours since they started through the Indigo Mountains and everyone was running out of steam. It was frigid, no one could see where they were going, and the snow swallowed their legs with every step, packing their shoes tightly with snow.

"There's a small cave up ahead that we can rest in, okay everyone? Just keep going!" Her father boomed, his voice barely audible through the howling wind.

Relief flared throughout the crowd. A new energy filled Chase at the idea of getting out of the blizzard, curling up next to her father's fire Pokémon and getting a good rest. Charizard's tail flame swerved to the left, as did the villagers. Her father began to lose altitude until he was barely hovering above the snow.

"Come on everyone, let's move it!" He shouted.

Chase hugged the cloak closer to herself as she tried to move faster. A steep hill had been slowing their paces for what seemed like ages, many slipping with every step they took.

Chase heard a panicked shriek, quickly recognizing it to be Caitlin. She whirled around and saw the brunet struggling to keep a slipping Rapidash on its hooves; the sacks full of supplies weighing the fire horse down.

"Hang on!" Chase shouted, tying her cloak around her waist and racing through the loose snow.

Caitlin shot her a pleading look as she tugged at Rapidash's reins. Realizing she'd never make it to her before the Pokémon would drag her down the mountain, she threw herself into the snow, barrel-rolling down the hill. Others started to try to get to Caitlin, but Chase was quicker, getting up a few feet in back of Caitlin and Rapidash. Caitlin's arms were clearly tiring and Rapidash's strength was wilting away. Gritting her teeth, Chase roughly knocked the older woman aside, taking the reins. Caitlin laid in the snow, her eyes wide in horror.

At the sudden change of tenders, Rapidash panicked, its red eyes turning into terrified round spheres. The fire horse reared, the snow beneath its grounded hind legs giving out and Chase being thrown into the air, her hands still tightly gripping the reins. The Rapidash gave an eerie scream as it fell back into the snow, its mane licking at Chase's arms. She yelled in both pain and surprise as she too plunged down the hill. Out of panic, Rapidash rolled to the right, heading directly towards a drop off. Chase awkwardly stuck one leg out in an attempt to stop herself and Rapidash. A horrid snapping sound filled her ears and pain shot up her leg.

They rolled off the edge and took the plunge.

XXX

When she awoke, her vision was slurred and she was half submerged in fresh snow. Chase started wriggling her fingers, staring at their blurry shapes as she began to recover from the initial shock. She still couldn't quite comprehend what exactly had happened.

_Am I dead? _She wondered.

The girl shivered, her question answered. She could feel. Her breath billowed around her face and snowflakes gently landed in her open eyes.

"Hello?" She weakly called.

Nothing. Chase shifted around, feeling uncomfortable. Her hands felt the snow beneath herself. Her eyes widened. She rolled off of what she had thought was snow and stared at the area. Everything started coming back to her; the small pilgrimage, the snow, the Rapidash. She now knew how she survived. Chase had landed on Rapidash.

She further examined the fire type. It was dead of course, its mane and tail fire snuffed out and its legs vaguely resembled a pretzel. Its red eyes were half closed, as though it died mid-blink and the mouth was still twisted in a never ending scream.

She flinched at the sight, her breathing quickening. Chase forced her attention away from Rapidash and she began examining herself. Her arms were scorched and her right leg that she attempted to stop the roll with was horribly twisted. She assumed that her face was flamed as well. Chase felt no pain due to the intense cold numbing the broken leg and burnt arms. However, she still had her cloak tied around her waist and the supplies that Rapidash had fallen with hadn't fallen far. Chase began to get over the shock of falling and sat up, blinking the snow out of her eyes and taking in her other surroundings.

"Hello?" She called again, her voice muffled by the immense amount of snow.

She strained her ears, hoping to hear _someone _that had heard her. Chase sighed. She knew everyone probably assumed the fall killed her. The girl was all alone in the middle of the Indigo Mountains, crippled and injured.

Her eyes suddenly widened and she gasped, "Bulbasaur! Oh thank Arceus I caught you!"

Chase groped through her pockets for the pokeball. As soon as she felt the poke ball relief washed over her that it hadn't fallen out, she grasped the sphere and released the grass type.

"Bulb…" It complained, shivering at the cold.

"Bulbasaur, I need help. Please, take this," she said, reaching back into her pockets and felt for another poke ball, pulling an empty one from her pocket. "Battle and catch anything that could signal help."

"Saur." Bulbasaur nodded, accepting the empty quick ball and running away into the snow without a question.

Chase stared after her Bulbasaur, watching as it became nothing more than a dot in the distance. Her gaze turned to Rapidash and drug herself through the snow and rested her arms on the corpse, scanning the snow for the supplies. She'd just seen them. Chase spotted one of the brown straps sticking out from under the snow. With a grunt of effort Chase managed to grip the strap with her fingers, tightening her grip and yanking it free. Chase sat back in the snow and laid the travel bag out on the body, yanking at the leather that held it closed. She tumbled back when it finally opened. Chase immediately sat back up, digging through the bag.

She gave a sigh of relief; there wasn't any jerky, but there was four blankets spun from Caterpie string lined with the fuzz of some fuzzy plant that grew in the Viridian forest. Chase couldn't quite remember its name.

She wrapped her cloak around her body first, then the four blankets. Stuffing her queasy feelings about Rapidash down, she curled up beside it out of desperation to get whatever body heat the beast had left. Her finger tips were blue now. She assumed that her lips were too. She covered her face with a blanket and forced herself to stay awake, knowing that if she slept she wouldn't wake up. The blankets were still ice cold, but it felt nice for her to be shielded from the snow.

Her breath snaked around her face. She forced herself to think of happy memories, trying to convince herself that she'd live.

Chase sucked in another ragged breath, her eyes narrowed in concentration.

_Stay awake… fight through it, you've made it this far. What would Grandma think if I went down like this? Keep fighting… C'mon, Chase… _She coached herself.

Chase could practically feel her leg swelling. The throbbing was torturous, tormenting her. She clenched her fists, watching brightly as some of the color returned to her fingers. She unclenched her fists, her color draining.

Chase's heart suddenly sank when she realized she forgot an important detail to her surviving: Bulbasaur was a grass type.

"Damn it." She muttered, knowing she may have just sent her Pokémon to its death.

"So this is how it ends, eh? Dying in the Indigo Mountains, slumped up against a dead Rapidash. Lovely."


End file.
